Of Flufflepaints and Moodles
by ExtremeRainbowRaiderPrincess
Summary: Kids. A house. A dog. Michael and Fiona have finally settled down to a new life that fits them nicely. They're still the same Mikey and Fi though.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I own the OC's and the story. That's it._

_Author's Note: Thought up when driving around with my mom. We're both Burn Notice fans, so this was fun to talk about with her. ^_^_

* * *

_When you're a spy, you get used to living on little-to-no sleep, that's why most spy agencies recruit either former military personnel or college students._

_You learn how to spend weeks living on the few hours of sleep you can snag while in a tree or a cave or wherever you can sleep safely._

_They don't warn you, though, that you will be using this talent for one very critical, non-work, reason:_

_Parenthood._

* * *

"WAAAAAAH!"

Michael snorted awake, his arm flying out from under his pillow with a pacifier in his grasp, scrambling to try and figure out just what that alarm was for: Air raid, nuclear attack, home invaders, or car alarm.

At Fiona's groan from under the pillow next to his, though, he figured it out.

"Baby." He groaned, collapsing face-first back onto his pillow, the random pacifier returning to it's cushy place under there.

While the baby's cries kept coming through the monitor, Michael was slowly drifting back to Dreamland when...

"Michael!" Fiona groaned from under her pillow. "It's your turn to take care of the baby!"

Michael sat up partway and gave her a partially annoyed look that screamed, "It's always my turn to take care of the baby".

* * *

_My mom warned me that sleep is the rarest element in the world when you are a parent, and at the time she told me that, I didn't consider just how true her words could end up being._

_I should've._

_I'm just lucky, though, that Fi takes care of the kids during the day..._

_When my mom hasn't volunteered to baby-sit them._

* * *

With a world-weary groan, Michael dragged himself from bed and out of the room.

After he and Fi had gotten married because, to quote his mother, "I will not have any grandchildren borne out of wedlock! Marry her, Michael!", they had moved out of the loft.

Barry had known a guy who knew a guy who was married to a realtor and the newly-married couple had been able to find a house that was in their budget, was near Michael's mom's place, was on a block with a nonexistent crime rate, and had about a billion escape options.

After moving in, though, Fi found she had another reason to hate Barry: The realtor had neglected to tell them that there was mold in several of the walls...

Fast-forward five years and three kids later and the mold was gone, but construction on the house was still underway. Fi kept finding one more thing that needed work.

Michael was beginning to suspect that she was doing that deliberately.

Back to the current situation, Michael dragged himself down the hall, heading towards their youngest child's bedroom. Thus far they hadn't named him. Michael had absolutely refused Fi's suggestion of naming the baby after his father, and she refused to name the baby after her's, so... They were now drawing a blank on name options.

"Daddy?"

Michael stopped in front of his daughter Claire, who stood in her bedroom doorway in her flashy pink Barbie nightgown, clutching a fat orange bunny named Captain Flufflepaints. Yes, "paints". It had been a gift from Maddie to Claire when Claire had turned two. They were inseparable.

"Daddy..." Her lower lip trembled as Michael looked at his oldest child, who was only 5 years old. "I had a bad dream." She said in a quiet voice, obviously on the verge of tears.

Michael sighed, looked in the direction of Baby's room, and then knelt in front of Claire. "Was it the one where pirates took Captain Flufflepants- paints-" Michael instantly corrected himself with when tears filled Claire's big green eyes, "away?"

Claire shook her head as she started crying. "Th- the- they took you away!" She wailed. And then she threw herself into his arms and started crying against his shoulder.

Michael held her close, rubbing her back, as Captain Flufflepaints' hard plastic nose dug into his ribs.

"I didn't want you to go!" Claire cried, growing louder, as her younger brother, Phillip, appeared from his room right next to hers. At 3 years old, Phillip was already a force to be reckoned with.

"Claire?" He asked, rubbing one eye as he shuffled towards them, his Batman pajamas crackling with static electricity.

"It's okay, Phillip. She just had a bad dream." Michael told his middle child, who stopped next to them as Claire kept crying.

"And- and then they said Phillip had to get rid of Moodle!" Claire added.

Phillip's clear blue eyes grew giant. "Who did?" He asked as he stepped even closer.

"The pirates!" Claire shouted as Michael heard the mattress in the master bedroom shift. Fi was up.

Tears formed in Phillip's eyes, though he sniffled and tried to keep them at bay.

"It's okay, guys. It was just a dream." Michael said, though he held his arm out to Phillip because he knew what came next.

Phillip charged forward, crashing into Michael's shoulder, as he reached out to hug his sister. He then started to cry as well.

Michael sighed as the children cried, Fi appearing next to them moments later.

"I've got this." Fi said, kneeling next to him. "Hey," she said, somehow capturing the children's attention. "Why don't we go sit on my bed while Daddy checks on the baby?"

Claire and Phillip nodded, Claire letting go of Michael and Phillip letting go of Claire, and took a few steps towards their mom before Phillip turned and ran back into his room.

Michael stood as he furrowed his eyebrows. That was not Phillip's usual behavior.

Seconds later, though, he found out why Phillip had broken his usual protocol: He had gone back to retrieve Moodle, a green and red cow pillow that Sam had gotten for his Godchild last Christmas. "Only if Moodle can come too." Phillip said, clutching Moodle tightly as he approached his mom.

"Of course Moodle can come with us. Captain Flufflepaint and Moodle are always welcome, right Michael?" She asked, looking at him.

Michael smiled, albeit wearily, at the love of his life. "Of course." He confirmed.

Fi smiled back before herding the children in their room. "Let's bounce on the bed!" Was the last thing he heard her say.

* * *

_Some spies spend their entire lives working. A rare few, though, get a chance to be happy._

_It is less than 5% of spies who get that chance._

_I was one of them._

* * *

Michael entered the nursery with a groan. The baby had quite the set of lungs.

"Hey, hey, it's all right." Michael said, crossing the room to the crib.

Baby- as the nickname for it was- refused to be calmed though. By the time Michael had picked his youngest child up, Baby was wailing like a siren.

Michael sighed, patting the child's back. "It's okay. Ssssh. It's okay."

Michael attempts at calming the baby, though, were futile.

* * *

_I miss the option of sleep._

* * *

_This will be a shorter fic. Just a few chapters and that's it. Just a series of chapters showing just what a normal day for Michael is now that he's married with kids._

_Reviews are always lovely, like cake. ^_^_

_Flamers must direct all flames at my secretary, the Proto from Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. :D_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I own the OC's (you'll know 'em when you see 'em) and the storyline and that's it. I do not own Burn Notice._

_A/N: Thank you everyone for all of the lovely reviews! :D It took me a while to publish a new chapter because the first chapter actually took five, or is it six?, months to be completed. I kept plucking away at this chapter though and I feel that it is… Realistic. And totally a Michael/Fiona setup._

_Oh, and the dog's name IS the shortened version of the name that it seems to be. It just seemed right. ^_^_

* * *

_It doesn't take much work to design an almost ironclad plan; all it takes is a little time, a little patience, and plenty of information._

_On the other hand, if you're too cavalier and believe that your plan is airtight, then your ego will steer you straight into trouble. It's always best to have alternatives for every step of your plan as well._

_This, I've learned, is not applicable at breakfast time._

* * *

The next morning brought with it a whole new round of Westen-Glenanne family fun.

Breakfast was a hectic affair for the household, involving disagreements such as what cereal was good that morning, where someone's favorite shirt was, and who was feeding the dog table scraps though its food bowl was full.

"Claire, please don't feed Enelope your banana," Michael said, referring to the family's Irish wolfhound, as he entered the kitchen.

"But he likes bananas." Claire defended her actions with, offering the dog the yellow fruit again. The dog, which was lying on the floor but had its head raised, turned and tracked Michael's path to the refrigerator instead.

Michael opened the fridge door and grabbed a blueberry yogurt. When he turned around, he found that the dog had had enough of being offered fruit and was leaving the room.

"I think he's full." Michael told his daughter, who looked upset that the dog didn't want to eat.

Claire shrugged and put her banana on the table, suddenly bored. She brightened almost immediately, though, and climbed off her chair faster than Michael could ask. She scampered out of the room, making a beeline for the living room where Phillip watched cartoons.

Michael smiled as Claire took a seat next to her brother, both of them excited because a favorite show was about to begin.

Fiona appeared just as it began, studying the children over her shoulder before turning to smile at Michael. Baby slept against her shoulder, looking adorable.

"Did Claire manage to convince Enelope to eat her banana?" Fiona asked him as she went to the cupboard near the sink, taking a jar of pureed peaches from it.

"Not yet." Michael told her, still smiling as he watched his two oldest children laugh at something on the TV. Finally, he turned around to look at Fi. "Busy schedule today?" he asked her.

Fi shrugged as she put the baby in his highchair, the youngest child awakening almost immediately. "Oddly, no. I have a few errands to run, which include looking into some new hedges to replace the old ones the idiot that Barry recommended destroyed last week, but other than that I have nothing in mind. We are going to your mother's for dinner though."

Michael nodded. "7 o'clock?"

"6:30, actually." Fi said as she put a bib on Baby, stopping to kiss the chubby fist he offered her. "Her aquacise class is meeting at 7:30 lately."

Michael nodded again, watching Fi as she got out a rubber-tipped baby spoon and took the jar off of the baby food.

The phone began ringing as Baby turned his head, tracking some invisible item in the sunroom that was just off of the kitchen.

"I'll get it. Could you feed Baby?" Fi asked Michael as she stood from her chair and hurried over to the wall phone.

Michael, silent as ever, finished his yogurt in one giant spoonful and put the container and spoon down on the counter. He took Fi's seat as she spoke to the person on the other line, Jesse, if he wasn't mistaken.

Baby turned his head to look at Michael, his eyes the same shade of blue as his father's. Michael was a little surprised to find that Baby was giving him an unimpressed look. A _Westen-family _unimpressed look, if he wasn't mistaken. The same one his mom gave him.

Michael looked at the jar of baby food in his hand and determined that he, too, would look unimpressed if everyone thought that was what he wanted to eat.

"Well of course we would love to have you and Dani over for dinner. Well, if you want to bring something you could always be in charge of the dessert. Nothing with too much sugar; I don't want the kids to get too hyper before bedtime. Okay. 5:45 on Saturday it is."

Michael looked up from his futile attempt to feed Baby, his youngest son having made it quite clear that the peaches were not going to be eaten by _him_. "We're having dinner on Saturday with Jesse and Dani now?" Michael asked, a little confused why they were doing so. Jesse, Sam, and now Dani practically lived at their home already. Since when did they arrange visits?

"Yeah. It's Dani's birthday. Jesse wanted to take her out to a restaurant to celebrate, but she's working a case right now that keeps her phone ringing. There's something about phone calls that just ruins a romantic dinner." She said, giving him a pointed look.

Michael smiled in return.

* * *

_Ironclad plans are also not applicable for evenings, weekends, weekdays, or holidays when you live in suburbia._

_I learned that one the hard way._

* * *

Once the family had eaten breakfast- not all at the table or without the help of someone else- Michael took his cup of coffee and cellphone out onto the back patio and called his boss.

After he and Fiona had settled down, several people- Sam, Maddie, Jesse, Barry, and Fiona herself- suggested that he get a job at the same place as Jesse. Actually, they suggested he just get an official job. Jesse then offered his workplace as a solution.

Fiona had been pleased. That meant less unexpected trips here, there, and everywhere else and more time spent learning what the married life was like.

Michael still, after multiple years with the company, had a hard time accepting the 9-to-5, little work on vacations or weekends, setup.

_Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. R-_

"_Michael! I was waiting for your call. You're still on vacation, right?" _His boss, a retired CIA agent himself, joked.

"Yeah, I'm still on vacation. I was just wondering how the Port Electronics case was coming along. Have their security company contacted them yet?"

There was a pause on the other end. _"Well, no, not yet…" _His boss said hesitantly.

Michael grimaced, pacing slowly from one side of the patio to the other. "I'll look into that then. The security system shouldn't have failed like it did."

"_You're thinking it was sabotaged?"_

"Well, either that or it was one he…" Michael turned to find Claire standing there, watching him. "…ck of a coincidence." He smiled at his daughter, who smiled back at him, before going back in the house.

That was Claire. She liked sharing joy with everyone.

Unless pirates were involved.

* * *

_Working a normal job allowed me a freedom the CIA and freelance work never did. I can go home at night, take vacations, and spend holidays without work looming over my head._

_It also meant a stable paycheck and gave my mother something to brag about._

* * *

"_Whatever the case, I will have someone else look into it right now. You're on vacation, Michael. Enjoy it. Pretty soon those kids of yours will be all grown up and going to college and getting married, and suddenly you'll miss these days."_

Michael gave a short, paper-rustled-and-you-missed-it, laugh. "I take it a quiet, empty house is a little alarming?"

His boss laughed. _"That, and my bank account is in therapy. Two weddings and a kid still in college will do that to ya'. I'll see you in a couple of days; don't call me again while on vacation or I'll tell Fiona."_

"Got it, Boss." He said as he hung up. Exhaling, he relaxed a little as he examined the yard.

The pool had one-too-many leaves in it, the lawn was getting a little shaggy near the back fence, and the toolshed no longer looked rustic; it was downright shabby.

It wasn't a picture-perfect yard, and yet, it was what…

He stopped that thought. He knew it was what Fi had always wanted, but him? No, he had never given his dream house or yard much thought. He hadn't had one in mind, actually, but if he had to guess…

His yard was pretty close to perfect.

* * *

_I don't mind my current life at all. It's a lot more stable and organized than what I had before._

_I don't have to form plans for every waking moment; I can have the freedom to make a spur-of-the-moment decision without having to pay for it later._

_The life I led before, though, didn't have a lawn that constantly required maintenance._

* * *

_I'll be overjoyed if you review, but if you decide to just keep coming back for more chapters then I will be equally as happy. Happy readers = Happy Raini._

_Flamers will have to find my office, first, in order to give the flames to my secretary. Sorry, but I resolved to (for the new year) not have my office swarmed by ninja's again. Long story._


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I own the OC's and the story and that's it._

_A/N: ^_^ So, here's chapter three. Finally, we see Sam. And yes, I am taking your requests about the baby's name into serious consideration. All will be revealed by the end of the fic. :) Don't worry about any names the characters call the baby in the fic; it's just Mike and Fi's luck that everyone but them have already given the child a name/nickname and gone on._

* * *

_Sudden changes in plans for the day are, usually, a bad thing for spies._

_Hours, days, or weeks of planning can be thrown out the window with just a simple spraining of an ankle. Carefully created covers can disappear with just an accidental run-in at a grocery store._

_Spies don't like surprises or unexpected changes, unless they go in their favor._

_Of course, when you're a parent, you grow used to these things._

* * *

Just when everyone had finished up breakfast- save for Claire and her abandoned banana that Enelope still refused to eat- Fiona realized that her plans for the day were wrong.

She stood at the sink, drying her hands after loading up the dishwasher, staring out the window as she thought. Michael studied her from the kitchen table as Baby played with a plush squirrel from Barry. Barry still annoyed Fiona, and with good reason, but Baby loved the toy so much that Fiona put her annoyance aside because her children's happiness meant so much to her.

"Michael, what are your plans for the day?" She asked him out of the blue, surprising him.

He thought for a moment, folding the newspaper on the table into a neat rectangle. "Well, I thought Sam and I would visit Jesse and see if he needed any help. I'd mow the back lawn too." He added as an after-thought, suspecting that that was what Fi was thinking about.

"That's good. Don't forget the pool needs cleaning. I'm taking Claire to ballet today." She said it so casually that he almost missed the final statement.

Michael blinked and frowned as he processed what Fiona had told him. "So, today is that day?"

Fiona nodded as she loaded up a bag for the day's events. "Yes, today is the day Claire begins ballet lessons. I completely forgot since I've been so sleep deprived lately and wouldn't have remembered except for Phillip's reminder that he's spending the day with your mother. Charlie will be there, too, so they'll have fun."

Michael nodded slowly, having no problem with that part of the plan, but one part got to him…

"Who's watching Baby?" he asked.

His wife looked up from her bag. "Well, since I spoke with your mother and watching two young boys is hectic enough as it is, I thought you would."

The look closest to panic for Michael crossed his face for a second. "I don't know, Fi…"

"Oh, come on, it'll be easy. And fun. You two can have father-son bonding time." Fi said cheerfully.

Michael tried to figure a reason why he couldn't have his youngest son with him and couldn't.

"And Sam's here." She tossed over her shoulder as she left the room and went back upstairs.

A moment later, Sam used his keys and was in the house. "Hey, morning."

"Uncle Sam! Uncle Sam!" the older children shouted, running to greet Sam, as Michael stood.

"Did you bring us anything?" Claire asked outright as Sam knelt to look the children in the eye.

"I don't know…" Sam pretended to not remember. "Are you two… Fred and Joan?"

"No." the kids said in unison again, shaking their heads.

"Oh. So you're Melissa and Bobby." Sam joked.

"No, Uncle Sam." Claire said, laughing, as Phillip frowned.

"Don't you remember us?" he asked, ever the voice of reason.

"Of course I do." Sam said, smiling at the children. "Actually," he grabbed a nearby paper bag that he had placed on an end table, "these are for you."

Michael winced as he presented the kids with the bag of saltwater taffy.

"Yay! Candy!" Phillip cheered as Claire gasped.

Sam was the "cool" uncle who always brought the kids candy and let them drink milkshakes while Michael and Fi told him not to.

Sam stood as the kids dashed away, Claire holding their treasure, and returned to the TV.

Michael felt a lot better about the gift when he realized that he wasn't going to have to deal with the sugar rush firsthand.

* * *

_Some surprise changes in plans can be beneficiary to a job. Of course, you have to be quick enough to take advantage of those changes before it's too late and they become a hindrance._

_The surprises that come with parenthood, fortunately, can usually be smoothed over by a sugary confection and some careful planning._

* * *

"So, Mikey, how are you? Looking good. Did you have peaches this morning?" Sam asked, turning to look into the kitchen.

Michael blinked and stared at his long-time friend, wondering if he had taken a hit on the head recently.

"Oh, not you, Mike." Sam said, addressing the senior Westen in the room. "I was talking to Mikey Jr."

Michael's expression returned to that of passive-annoyance. "Still betting that we name him that?"

"Oh-hoh yeah. The pool's up to $500, Mike." Sam said, striding into the kitchen and heading for the refrigerator. He had opened the door only partway when Fi returned to the kitchen, dressed in a breezy sundress.

"Still no beer in there, Sam." Fi said in a way of greeting, causing Sam to shut the door with a disappointed frown.

"Aw. Not even a beer cooler? Something fruity with a little umbrella?" Sam asked just before Claire dashed in, heading for the fridge. Sam opened the door for her as she grinned at her "uncle".

"We have good juice. Phillip and I always drink some with our candy." Claire said in a tone that was usually reserved for attempts at reasoning with her parents to let her have ice cream for dinner.

"Oh, that's good, but I…" Sam stopped as Claire pulled out a juice box from the fridge and offered it to him. "No no, I'm…" She shook the little box, grinning brightly at Sam. "Oh, why not? Thank you, Claire." Sam said, accepting the little box from the bright child.

"You're welcome." Claire said, grabbing two more boxes for her and her brother before running off again, leaving Sam to shut the fridge door.

Sam nudged it shut with his foot as he struggled to get the thin straw out of its plastic wrapper. "You look awfully cheerful this morning, Fiona." Sam said, at that point failing at poking the straw through the box.

"That's because I get to spend the day shopping with Dani and the twins after Claire's ballet lessons." Fi said, referring to Dani and Jesse's twin daughters, Alison and Grace. "It'll be fun."

Michael raised an eyebrow as Sam, in the background, said, "Ah hah!" as he finally poked the straw through the box and sipped the juice. "I thought today was just the ballet lessons." Suddenly, he was suspicious of how long he would be responsible for his younger son.

"Well, it was at first, but then I realized that Dani's in town and her birthday is tomorrow, so I figured a girls day out would be fun. Besides, I need new shoes." She said as a way of finalizing her decision, because a moment later she was taking a water bottle from the fridge, kissing Michael on the cheek, and heading into the living room to talk to Claire about getting ready for ballet.

Sam started laughing as Michael furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, Mike, looks like it's just you and me today. Let's hit the beach! I know of this great fishing spot…"

"I'm watching the baby, Sam." Mike said, cutting his friend off. "No fishing today." He shook his head. _Or ever. _Michael silently added, since he found no joy in throwing something into the water and waiting for hours while getting sunburned.

Sam stopped, mid-description of the fishing spot, to consider Michael's words. "All right; that works too. We'll just go wherever it is that a parent with their friend goes when they want to get out of the house and they're bringing a baby along." He said, obviously trying to figure out where that place was. "Where is that place, exactly?"

Michael sighed. To be honest, he was just planning on spending the day at home, doing work. He'd visit his mother later, to check on her, and then go for a run with the dog.

"We'll figure something out." Michael responded with, looking at his youngest son, who was playing with a plastic set of baby keys.

* * *

_I prefer the changing schedule that is parenthood to the changing schedule of a spy. Only one of them grants you the option of taking a day off and sleeping in late._

* * *

_Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. And thank you to everyone for the lovely reviews! I really enjoying reading them and am so glad you are enjoying the story! :D_

_For flamers: My secretary is out of office, so your flames may take a while to reach me. I don't know where my office is currently, actually, so… Yeah…_


End file.
